Ok, so I know I said I was going to organise my office/craft room, but organisation tends to be a bit like a pebble dropped in a pond, it causes ripples to flow out from the point of impact. Organising one area tends to show up another which now looks positively squalid in comparison. Organising one area often leads to reclaimed space which may cry out for a piece of furniture or other items currently located elsewhere, which then in turn create new spaces that need your attention. Or, as was the case for me in the previous few days, organising one area requires the rehousing of certain items elsewhere. For me it was books.
The office/craft room (hmm, if you've got any catchy room name suggestions let me know) currently houses the majority of our books owing to the fact that Munchkin Features like to read, a lot. One of her favourite past times is pulling books of the shelves, reading them, and discarding them. Book, read, discard. Book, read, discard. So the process goes on until the shelf is almost bare and standing to pull more books off the shelf requires balancing on a rug of abandoned pages that have a way of slipping out from underneath you. Ergo the only books in the living room are her board books.
But if I am to effectively organise my craft I will need to reclaim some shelf space in the room, which is why some books had to go. My solution was to build a bookshelf in the living room from bits and pieces of furniture we had already. I LOVE this kind of redecorating. New look, new feel, new purpose without spending any money! I am so happy with how it turned out.
It started with this inspiration from pinterest:
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| Better Homes and Gardens |
and this...
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This is one of those images floating around pinterest and doesn't link to anything
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I had a coffee table who's only current function was to hide the power cords and display a pot plant.
I had a old bench collected in council clean up years ago who's only current function was to have a hidden wasps nest underneath it...found that one out along the way!
I had an old crate I got for a few dollars at a garage sale years ago before I knew crates were trendy who's only function was for display
I had a little cheap pine IKEA bookcase/bedside table who's only current function was as a place for future organisation of craft or office supplies.
Really all I did was pile them up and then add my books! I got my interior decorator on by laying a few books flat, grouping some similar colours and sizes together, adding a plant and a few ornaments and boom, bookcase! Maybe one day I'll paint and distress the new IKEA shelf, but for now I'm more than content.
Unfortunately Munchkin Features thought it looked pretty good for climbing, her newest skill, so I had to move the suitcases she's sitting on (they do look a lot like stairs I guess). However, because of the depth of the coffee table her access to the books is somewhat restricted. She has had one go in the last few days, but nothing in comparison to letting her loose on a regular bookcase. Oh I realise I did buy something new, that little wooden plane I found for $2 at Vinnies. Ornament for me or toy for Munchy...only time will tell.
Anyway, after I built the bookcase on one side I felt like the room needed some balancing out in height. So I brought in a ladder from outside (it came from the same garage sale as the crate) to add height and use as a magazine rack. Saw one of these once in a funky cafe on Derby St in Newcastle and mentally filed it away...see not all my ideas come from Pinterest!
I really love the new height and warmth and texture to the wall created by the rustic touches.
And while I was in the organising mode I decided to tackle our collection of technological items. Munchkin Features has a way of sniffing out all things technological and I am forever fishing my phone out from behind cushions on the lounge where it has been stashed out of sight, or confiscating the tablet that was left with reach on one of the coffee tables. I saw this toolbox conversion and thought it was one of the best ideas I'd seen in a looooong time.
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| Better Homes and Garden |
And thus my new crate found its purpose (I knew I would find a worthwhile use for it!).
It simultaneously organises and hides the cords as well as creating a safe place to leave technological bits and pieces.
And with tangent No. 1 completed I have resumed organisation of the office/craft room. Today I wound all my bias binding and elastic and ric-rac and other trims around pieces of cardboard and put them in a shoe box while Munchkin pulled as many books as she could off the freshly organised bookcase in the office, reinforcing my belief that I need to organise me a child free space!
What about you? Do you find organisation has a ripple effect? Or do you have any nifty solutions for organising the charging of your technology?
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